Paul Chan: Happiness (Finally) After 35,000 Years of Civilization

Paul Chan (b. Hong Kong, 1973) is an American artist, writer, and publisher. His first major video piece, Happiness (Finally) After 35,000 Years of Civilization, created from 1999 to 2003, employs the surrealistic drawings of American artist Henry Darger to examine the failure of utopianism, the depressing reality of recurrent wars and the disappointments of present-day political systems.

Top Image: Paul Chan, detail from Happiness (finally) after 35,000 years of civilization, courtesy of the artist and Greene Naftali Gallery.